A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material, which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to voice message recordation and redelivery systems, and particularly to those which actively telephone a subscriber and deliver the message to a human recipient rather than to a voice mail or answering machine system.
2. Related Art
A wide variety of message handling systems are known to the prior art. There are also a wide variety of systems that provide for the delivery of messages at predetermined dates and times. Most of these systems, however, do not specifically require the detection of the human voice of the subscriber but simply direct messages to voice mail or answering machines. What is desired is a system designed to specifically locate the subscriber individually and to do so in a relatively simple and inexpensive manner that is fully automated.
In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of scheduling and receiving by a user a reminder call from an automated, computerized voice message storage and redelivery system (SRS) comprising the steps of: placing a call from a telephone by the user to the SRS; answering the telephone call placed by a telephone connection of the SRS; identifying by the SRS the user from which the call was made; requesting by the SRS which telephone number is to be called by the SRS to deliver a reminder call; requesting by the SRS the message to be included in the reminder call; recording by the SRS the information obtained pursuant to the above requests; calling the telephone number as requested; if the telephone number is answered, determining by the SRS if a human voice has answered the telephone; and if a human voice answers the telephone, providing by the SRS to the user who answers the telephone with the message.
Further aspects of the present invention include determining by the SRS whether there is a caller identification (CID) number for the telephone used; if a CID number is obtained, comparing by the SRS the CID number obtained to a database of stored CID numbers; and if the CID number matches a stored CID number, requesting when a reminder call is to be made. If a CID number is not obtained, requesting by the SRS from the user a Personal Identification Number (PIN); if a PIN is obtained, comparing by the SRS the PIN obtained to a database of stored PIN""s; and if the PIN matches a stored PIN, requesting when a reminder call is to be made including requesting the date and time a reminder call is to be made by the SRS. The SRS also requests more than one telephone number that is to be called; requests the order that the telephone numbers requested are to be called; requests by the SRS that the user enter the user""s name; and requests the user speak the user""s name.
Additional steps include calling the telephone number on the date and time obtained pursuant to the request. If a human voice is not detected by the SRS, calling the telephone number at time intervals determined by the SRS, including predetermining by the SRS the number of attempts to be made by the SRS to detect a human voice at the telephone number. The SRS also includes the steps of calling the first telephone number in the order obtained pursuant to the request; if the telephone is not answered or if it is not answered by a human voice, calling the second telephone number obtained pursuant to the request; and if the second telephone number obtained is called and is not answered or is not answered by a human voice, calling a third telephone number if one was obtained pursuant to the request. These steps are repeated a predetermined number of times as determined by the SRS and if no number is answered or no number is answered by a human voice, hanging up the SRS telephone connection. The SRS may also provide a predetermined reminder message that may be selected by a user.
In other aspects of the present invention there is provided an automated, computerized voice message storage and redelivery system comprising a computer means for executing software commands, a telephone connection means operatively connected to the computer means for calling and answering a telephone call from a remote location, a voice recognition means operatively connected to the telephone connection means and to the computer means for determining if a telephone called from the telephone connection means has been answered by a human voice, memory means operatively connected to the computer means for storing voice messages received by the telephone connection means from at least one remote telephone and for remembering the number of at least one remote telephone, program means for operating the computer means for receiving, recording, and redelivery of voice messages. The system program means includes means for answering a telephone call by said telephone connection means; means for identifying the user who is making the call; means for requesting when a reminder call is to be made by said system; means for requesting a telephone number to be called to deliver a reminder call; means for requesting the message to be included in the reminder call; means for recording in said memory means the information obtained; means for calling the telephone number as requested; means for determining if the telephone number is answered, and determining by said voice recognition means if a human voice has answered the telephone; and if a human voice is determined to have answered the telephone, providing the user who answers the telephone with the message. The program means includes further means for determining whether there is a caller identification (CID) number for the telephone answered; if a CID number is obtained, comparing the CID number obtained to stored CID numbers in said memory means; and if the CID number matches a stored CID number, proceeding to request when a reminder call is to be made. The program means also includes means for requesting the time and date a reminder call is to be made by the system. The program means further includes means for calling the telephone number on the date and time obtained pursuant to the request.
Additional aspects of the present invention include a method of delivering a scheduled reminder call from an automated, computerized voice message storage and redelivery system (SRS) having the steps of recording by the SRS when a reminder call is to be delivered; recording by the SRS when a reminder call is to be delivered; recording by the SRS at least one telephone number to be called by the SRS to deliver a reminder call; recording by the SRS a message to be included in a reminder call; calling a telephone number recorded when requested; determining by the SRS if a human voice has answered the telephone if the telephone number is answered; and providing by the SRS the user who answers the telephone with the message if a human voice answers the telephone.